Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank...

FRAUD TRIAL.

March 1, 1990

MEMPHIS, TENN. — FRAUD TRIAL. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank loans to Rep. Harold Ford were nothing more than ''a shell game'' to hide political payoffs, a prosecutor said Wednesday at the opening of Ford's bank fraud trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble said the bogus loans, eventually totaling $1.5 million, were to pay Ford for political and personal influence on behalf of former Tennessee bankers Jake Butcher and C.H. Butcher Jr. Ford, the only black member of Tennessee's congressional delegation, is charged with conspiracy, bank fraud and mail fraud.